1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an article supply device that individually extracts articles by using a visible sensor and a robot and supplies the articles to a supply destination.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, in an assembly factory and the like, it is common that a robot grasps one of a plurality of articles on the basis of a visual sensor and supplies the article to a next supply destination. Japanese Registered Patent Publication No. 3876260 discloses a device including a rotatable table having a mounting surface on which a plurality of articles are placed, and a partition/passing-through member that forms a gap of a predetermined distance between the mounting surface of the table and the partition/passing-through member. When the table and the partition/passing-through member relatively move with each other and thus an article passes through the gap, the visual sensor detects the article. Then, the robot grasps the article on the basis of information of the visual sensor and supplies the article to a supply destination.
Moreover, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-300670 discloses that when a plurality of articles are meshed with one another on a table, the plurality of articles are allowed to vibrate or gas is injected to the plurality of articles, so that these articles are prevented from being meshed with one another.
However, in Japanese Registered Patent Publication No. 3876260, there is a case in which articles mesh with other articles according to the shapes of articles and these articles overlap one another. In such a case, the plurality of meshed articles may be clogged in a gap between the table and the partition/passing-through member. Furthermore, it is difficult for the robot to grasp the meshed articles. Therefore, a cycle time is delayed
Moreover, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-300670, when the plurality of articles are allowed to vibrate, since the articles and the table are rubbed together, the surfaces and the like of the articles may be damaged. Moreover, even in the case of injecting gas, articles may be meshed with one another according to the position and the orientation of an injection port through which the gas is injected. In such a case, it is necessary to change the position and the orientation of the injection port so as to inject the gas again, resulting in the delay of a cycle time.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article supply device capable of supplying articles in a short cycle time without damaging the articles and meshing of the articles.